The 'Jackmaster' wants to make the dance floor into something like a religious experience

Farley Jackmaster Funk / HANDOUT

Farley Jackmaster Funk wants to take house music to a new place, a religious space.

Farley Jackmaster Funk wants to take house music to a new place, a religious space. (Farley Jackmaster Funk / HANDOUT)

Britt JuliousChicago Tribune

Don’t call it a comeback.

The Farley “Jackmaster” Funk audiences once knew is a changed man, and has been for a long time. He is more family-oriented and explicitly spiritual. He is more righteous and regimented. But more than anything, the Farley Williams of 2018 is more determined than ever.

His mission? To transform the dance floor from just a place to break a sweat into a transformative religious experience.

Most audiences would question the connection between the stereotypical hedonism of nightlife with a connection to spirituality but for Williams, there is more of a connection than you would think.

Since house music was first born in Chicago, it has grown into a massive umbrella term used to describe a variety of different dance-oriented genres and subgenres. One such sub-genre includes “gospel house,” a term used to describe a sound that blends the traditional four-on-the-floor rhythms of house music with the stylistic structures of old-school Christian records. Although the sub-genre has been around for many, many years, it began to gain traction in the last two decades, with new school tracks like the Uber-popular “Work it Out” by Karizma (if you’ve been anywhere near a dance floor or watched a tv commercial in the last two years, you’ve likely heard the track).

But Williams has been one of the leading figures of the sound since the beginning.

The road to his current career resurgence was not always smooth sailing. After years of success in the ’80s and ’90s, he began losing gigs across the globe due to his new turn toward the gospel house sound. “I went out trying to bring the gospel to secular clubs and ended up losing 99% of my work because I didn’t have a trailblazer in front of me,” he began. “I was the one setting new ground.” Bookers and promoters were unsure what to do with the new Farley, though audiences never seemed to be turned off by the sound.

The last decade was a turnaround for the DJ and producer. He cites 2007 in particular as a moment when the stars aligned. “I had to learn how to still do my job while being a Christian,” said Williams. Promoters finally understood the sound he was playing, and Williams toned down the “fire and brimstone” of his earlier efforts into something more palatable for the average music consumer. “You can win more people with sugar than to hit them with a bag of salt all the time,” he said. The result has kept him busy ever since.

Now, he will take those same intentions to a larger room with a group show titled “Last Night a DJ Saved My Soul.” Part of Red Bull’s month-long music festival in Chicago, the show is fully dedicated to the gospel house song. Although created by Red Bull, Farley was the true curator of the show, inviting a mix of friends and colleagues operating in the genre, including Ann Nesby from the Sounds of Blackness, DJ Pierre, and Bryon Stingily. And unlike a regular nightclub, this show begins during the day, ensuring folks of a variety of different ages and curfews can make an appearance and feel the spirit. “I was ecstatic being a Christian,” he said. “I want to see more events like this happen where we show people it’s ok to party if you’re a Christian.”

Williams is hard at work on a new album, with plans to play or premiere many of the tracks during the live show. He hopes it appeals to the many “church heads” (as he branded then) in the room that day. “It’s a movement I want to create,” he said.